Monument to the laboratory mouse, Monument in Akademgorodok, Novosibirsk, Russia.
The Monument to the laboratory mouse is a bronze sculpture in Akademgorodok, the scientific district of Novosibirsk, Russia. The mouse wears pince-nez glasses on the tip of its nose and holds knitting needles, from which a left-winding DNA double helix descends onto a speckled grey granite pedestal. The bronze figure is 70 cm high; with the pedestal the monument reaches 2.5 metres.
The sculpture was unveiled on July first, two thousand and thirteen, to celebrate the hundred and twentieth anniversary of Novosibirsk and the fifty-fifth year of the institute. The unveiling took place during a ceremonial event attended by scientists and residents of the district.
The statue stands in a small square by the Institute of Cytology and Genetics, not at its entrance. Its plaque lists it as an exhibit of the Museum of the History of Genetics in Siberia, and the project "The Mouse Knitting DNA" won the regional stage of the Silver Archer public relations award for Siberia in 2013.
The sculpture stands in a small park in front of the institute and is best viewed during daylight hours. Visitors can walk around the work from all sides and take photographs, as it sits openly accessible on the institute grounds.
The DNA strand from the needles winds to the left, forming the rare Z-DNA rather than the right-winding B-DNA taught in schools; the sculptor called it a symbol of research still to be done. The mouse's glasses sit on the tip of its nose, and the bronze figure is only 70 cm tall, though the whole monument with its granite pedestal reaches 2.5 m.
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